Terry's Take

SEATTLE – Nothing lasts forever. Not life, not luck and not football glory.

The Seattle Seahawks five-year run as a playoff team and a championship contender has ended, at least for now. It’s been a hell of a party.

The Seahawks lost 26-24 Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals after Blair Walsh was wide right on a 48-yard field attempt in the final seconds, a somewhat predictable demise for a kicker who missed eight times this season from outside the 30-yard-line.

It left the Seahawks 9-7, the first time Seattle failed to reach double-figure victories since 2011. A few minutes before that ugly boot, the Seahawks learned they also would miss the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Atlanta’s 22-10 home victory over Carolina sealed that fate.

When time ran out, the scoreboards at CenturyLink Field read Happy New Year. Maybe saying A Better New Year would feel more appropriate to the deflated New Year’s Eve crowd.

Fans become spoiled by success and the Seahawks have enjoyed so many wonderful moments under coach Pete Carroll, including a Super Bowl victory and back-to-back appearances in the final game.

Five consecutive playoff seasons, Beastmode with Marshawn Lynch, the Legion of Boom with the talented Seattle secondary, and Pro Bowlers galore on both sides of the ball.

It was a five-year run of fun, so falling short after such a remarkable stretch is hard to accept.

“Painful,’’ said Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin on how he feels. “Honestly, before the game I was preparing myself because there were a lot of things we couldn’t control. I prepared myself for the worst-case scenario, but I didn’t realize how painful it would be.”

Baldwin had two touchdown catches in the second half as the Seahawks came back from a 20-7 halftime deficit and led 24-23 late in the game. But it was a game like so many others this year when the offense was virtually non-existent at the start.

Seattle had 24 yards of offense and only one first down in the first half. The only TD was a spectacular 99-yard kickoff return by Tyler Lockett.

The Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde offense finally got going in the second half, but the pattern of horrible starts, stupid penalties and senseless mistakes were a death knell long before Walsh’s inevitable missed kick.

“The first thing I want to say is this has been a really challenging season for us,’’ Carroll said. “The game today almost was a microcosm for the season, getting in our own way.”

Russell Wilson led the NFL this year in TD passes with 34, incredible considering the team had no running game, a porous offensive line and was all but dormant for a lot of quarters in 2017.

“I think we had all the pieces at the beginning of the year,’’ Wilson said. “I thought this was going to be our best team, honestly. Then we had a lot of injuries. But there still is no excuse for losing because I believe we have a lot of winners.”

The Seattle defense lost cornerback Richard Sherman, defensive Cliff Avril and safety Kam Chancellor to season-ending injuries. Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner played the entire second half of the year on a bad hamstring that limited his effectiveness and defensive end Michael Bennett basically played all year on one good leg.

But injuries alone don’t come close to explaining the team’s downfall. This is a group that has lost its identity. These Seahawks are no longer a power-running team. They no longer have that intimidation factor on either side of the ball. And they are an aging group of stars that leave the team with enormous salary-cap issues moving forward.

Things must change and they will change.

“For it to end this way is really just so disappointing,’’ Baldwin said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for all the years we’ve had getting in the playoffs, but there definitely is more out there for us.”

Is there? Possibly, if the right moves are made in the offseason. It’s still a team loaded with talent, along with some promising young starts like cornerback Shaquill Griffin, defensive tackle Naz Jones and defensive back Justin Coleman.

The offense, however, needs a complete overhaul, and maybe, a new assistant coach or two to give a new perspective. Some of the beloved stars will be gone in 2018, but with Wilson and Wagner as the anchors, the Seahawks can rebound quickly.

“The most important thing we can do now is self-reflection,’’ Baldwin said. “I hope all the players and coaches do some soul searching.”

It’s a new experience for many of the Seahawks. This is the first time Wagner and Wilson have missed the playoffs.

“It’s part of the journey,’’ Wilson said. “It’s not easy to be great. You have to do all the little things right. A few times this season we missed the mark, for whatever reason. I have no regrets. We laid it on the line every day.”

Why is it that we depend on our kickers but over and over we fire the good ones and end up with second rate results. Season ticket holder

Reply

Terry

1/1/2018 03:54:31 pm

Hey bud, Happy New Year. In this case it was about saving money by letting Hauschka go. It was a costly mistake, no pun intended. Walsh won't be back, but the team has many other problems to address in the offseason.

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Rob clark

1/1/2018 03:28:12 pm

We need to rid the salary cap monsters, Bennett, chancellor, avril, Sherman, players who cannot produce the same, move on to younger talent and rebuild, it might even cost us earl Thomas who seems to be looking to leave to Dallas. But rebuilding our offensive line, def safety, cb help, rb, and a new kicker, from any other team, Walsh was simply subpar at his best! Our drafting has to be elite, if we expect immediate results, outside of that I think we will be playoff less teams for the next three yrs. no real wr talent outside of Baldwin Richardson has 1 or 2 big plays but drops the ball a lot same with jimmy graham. We need talent not money hungry players who don’t play to there contracts

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Terry

1/1/2018 03:57:48 pm

Many good points here Rob. Some of the big-money players on defense will be gone, and it's unlikely Graham returns. A big-body receiver is a must and a first-round type RB. I also think it's time to make some changes on the coaching staff to get a fresh look on offense and a new approach to the O'Line.

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Benny

1/1/2018 04:51:03 pm

I disagree on sherm, he is to valuable to let go. His injury showed his true value to this defense.

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Terry

1/3/2018 12:41:38 pm

After listening to Pete Tuesday, I think they will keep him Benny. His trade value is too low coming off the surgery and they believe he can come back and play at the top of his game.

Randy

1/2/2018 12:34:13 am

I’m sorry man, I get what you’re saying about needing new talent, but you going on and on about money hungry players not playing to their contracts is bullshit. Every name you mentioned out played their contract since 2011. Every player that got payed post Super Bowl 2013 was playing to their contracts. Everywhere we tried to save money is where we got burned. (O line, running backs, place kicker)And those “money hungry” players couldn’t mask our problems any more. Going forward I understand we need to trim so salary and invest in proper young talent, but to make it sound like those players you mentioned didn’t deserve every penny is ludicrous

Reply

Randy

1/2/2018 12:37:12 am

My post was referencing rob Clark’s original reply to the article

Terry

1/3/2018 12:44:15 pm

Hi Randy. Don't get me wrong, I think every player deserves every cent he gets to play this game and risk serious injury on every play. But some of them will have to go in 2018 to make the salary space to improve the team at key spots.

Mike

1/1/2018 04:29:38 pm

I agree! It's time to part ways with the salary cap monster Michael Bennett, maybe chancellor. I also think we have to fire Tom Cable, we need a fresh offensive line coach and maybe offensive coordinator. We need to give the young guys on defense reps and see what they have. It's time to rebuild the power run game and control the clock.

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terry

1/3/2018 12:46:22 pm

I think that's exactly what they want to do Rob. They've gotten away from who they are.

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Rob R

1/1/2018 06:29:04 pm

As we look back at the 2017 Seahawks I think the O-line has gotten more of the rap for the sub par season than they deserve. After all the adjustments from injuries and finally settling on placement of incoming rookie additions, the offensive line was doing a better job than most believed because it was easy to stick with that popular narrative rather risk the wrath of Hawk fans by pointing to the sandlot antics of Russel Wilson. Hey I'm a huge fan but on far too many occasions he held the ball far too long, danced about far lower much instead throwing the timing route that was open instead of searching for the home run ball way down the field. Amazing escapability? You bet! Breath taking to watch? All day long. But I'd rather settle for the next first down and an extended drive to another Seahawks TD than third and 18 after a sack. And to blame that on a sub par O-line has simply been unfair and misplaced criticism.

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Terry

1/3/2018 12:49:34 pm

You make a fair point about Russell, Rob. Too many times this season he left the pocket too soon. That's hard on the line and hard on the receivers. Even so, they still need improvements up front. Ifedi had 20 penalties called against him. That has to change.

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Sam

1/8/2018 09:47:35 am

If you want consistent 1st downs you need a running game, it doesn't have to be spectacular, but we had none whatsoever... Every qb will miss some throws and hold onto the ball too long at times, it happens... But when you look at team's that get 1st downs and control the clock, you're consistently looking at team's who have a run game that avg more than 4 yards per carry, if you take Wilson's numbers out of it i don't think we are even close to 3. And a decent amount of that falls on the O line.

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Judd

1/1/2018 08:34:46 pm

Many screws came loose this year, yet the Seahawks continued to prove that you can never count them out. The way they were able to win some games against all odds continued.

I truly believe that despite all of its flaws, the Seahawks would have made the playoffs for the sixth year in a row if Blair Walsh had made that last missed field goal at home against Arizona, and the three makable field goals at home against Washington. That would have put the Hawks at 11-5, beating out Atlanta for the final wild card spot.

The Hawks were hot and cold, yet proved that they could beat a quality opponent on any given day. Their throttling of The Eagles proved that, and their eaked out win over the Rams proved that. It is unfortunate, and you never want to blame one person for a failed season, but I truly believe that Blair Walsh cost the Seahawks season. With a team like the Hawks almost always playing a close game, they absolutely need a great kicker every single game.

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Terry

1/3/2018 12:51:38 pm

And they're already looking for another kicker Judd. Brought in a couple on Tuesday.

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Joan Geisinger

1/1/2018 09:52:53 pm

Despite injuries everybody rose to the occasion except one unfortunate individual. He apparently could not handle the heat!! Cost us the playoffs!!

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Terry

1/3/2018 12:53:40 pm

Walsh definitely hurt them Joan, but even Pete admits they have other key areas were they have to improve, especially the running game.

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Arjun

1/5/2018 12:29:54 pm

Nice article.
1- Do you think we can get a good RB with 18th pick? Perhaps Sony Michel?
2- IMO we build next 5 yrs of success around 5 anchors, RW BWagz & RS & ET3 & DBrown. What are the odds of keeping all 5?
3- Can we get discounted deals to keep sub-par Joekel & Lacey & Jimmy G. Their under par play could help secure team friendly deals.